On March 28th , I flew out to Las Vegas for the Wynn Las Vegas' Affiliate Fam Tour. The Fam tour, in case you haven't heard of it, is a great perk offered to Wynn affiliates, where they invite select affiliates to the Hotel for 2 nights, take them out to dinner and their shows, and give them the grand tour of the Wynn. It was a great experience, I learned a lot about the Wynn, made some great relationships, and continued to build on my existing relationship with the Wynn Affiliate team.
Everyone that went on the Fam tour, seemed to have a great time.
But alas, a few short days after the Wynn fam tour ended, Karen White, the Wynn Affiliate Manager, was let go. From what I can tell it appears to be a changing of the guard in the Wynn's Internet marketing team and the official word is that Karen “didn't fit with the team they were trying to build”.
Karen was the major force and advocate behind the Wynn affiliate program, so I am not sure exactly what that means for the future of their program. We have been told that Katie Hoffmann-Lanier will be the contact for affiliates until they figure out what's next.
For those who know Karen, she will be missed a great deal. She is a strong supporter of affiliate marketing, had been the voice of the affiliates inside the Wynn, and was instrumental in the growth of the Wynn's affiliate program. Karen was awarded the Commission Junction Horizon People Award in 2006 for her work at the Wynn.
Karen is currently looking for new opportunities, and I am sure will be a strong force and affiliate advocate wherever she ends up.
As for the Wynn Affiliate Program, her shoes will be hard to fill and I wonder of their program will continue, or if the Wynn's commitment to the affiliate program in general will dissipate. Only time will tell…



More About Wynn, Wynn, Lose (Karen White Terminated from Wynn after Affiliate Fam Tour)